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A growing, aging population and an acute caregiver shortage are pushing adult care centers to think outside the box. Itay Hod introduces a new, high-tech helper.
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Tag: nursing home
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2 killed, several missing after nursing home explosion in Pennsylvania
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Two people are dead after an explosion at a nursing home in Bristol, Pennsylvania, and several are still missing, Gov. Josh Shapiro said. CBS Philadelphia reporter Nikki DeMentri reports.
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Judge in nursing home bankruptcy case gives families fresh hope of compensation for injuries, deaths
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A bankruptcy judge blocked an attempt by a nursing home chain’s primary investor to shield himself from settlement payments and liability in lawsuits alleging hundreds of patient injuries and deaths, encouraging those pursuing millions in damages.
Genesis HealthCare, once the nation’s largest nursing home chain, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in July with a proposal to protect its controlling investor, Joel Landau, from legal liability. In court papers, Genesis had originally estimated all its settled and pending cases — which it said numbered nearly a thousand — would cost $259 million to resolve.
KFF Health News reported this month that in the years before filing for bankruptcy, Genesis had settled at least 155 patient injury and death lawsuits with provisions that allowed it to delay paying, sometimes for more than a year. As a result, when Genesis filed for bankruptcy in July, it still owed $41 million out of the $58 million promised in those settlements with families of current or former residents, according to the bankruptcy and case records KFF Health News reviewed.
In hearings Wednesday and last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas, Judge Stacey G.C. Jernigan said she would not approve a sale of the company’s assets that included legal releases from liability for Landau and a private equity associate, David Gefner. Landau, who was seeking to purchase the assets through another company he controlled, did not attend the bankruptcy hearings or respond to a subpoena, lawyers said in court.
“I’m very encouraged that someone is watching and paying attention to this,” said Erin Pearson, whose father, James Sanderson, died in 2018 after spending less than a month in a Genesis facility in Albuquerque. “And the guy who owns the most shares, not only did he not show up but doesn’t just get to move things around and rebuy” the nursing homes.
According to Pearson’s lawsuit, filed in 2019, Sanderson developed a bowel obstruction and sepsis while at the facility but was not sent to the hospital for more than a week.
Genesis did not pay Pearson the $500,000 it agreed to in a settlement, according to Pearson’s claim filed in bankruptcy court. “I don’t know if I’ll ever see that settlement, but I would like to be hopeful,” Pearson said in an interview Dec. 17.
Genesis, Landau, Gefner, and their attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a public statement last week, David Harrington, the executive chairman of Genesis’ board of directors, praised Landau and his company’s investment in Genesis for helping it avoid bankruptcy in 2021. That “lifeline,” he said, enabled Genesis to transform into a “nimble, market-based model dedicated to prioritizing resident and patient care.”
Adria Malcolm for KFF Health News
Ian Norris, who represents 19 clients with lawsuits against Genesis — including four who have not been paid their settlements — said the judge’s ruling was “a huge win for all those who were confronting the possibility that they would not be able to recover the settlements that were promised to them by Genesis prior to the bankruptcy.”
According to Genesis’ bankruptcy filings, the company owes more than $1.6 billion in unpaid claims that are not secured by liens, including claims not only from former residents and their families but also from a pension fund; contractors that provided health services and equipment; and Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and West Virginia, which are owed provider taxes. Daniel Simon, a lawyer representing Genesis’ owners, said in court on Dec. 17 that $155 million would be available from the proceeds of the sale for these creditors under a bid for the nursing home assets from a new company controlled by Landau and Gefner.
Genesis last month held an auction for its assets and announced that Landau’s bid was the best, but the U.S. Trustee’s Office and creditors objected, saying Genesis had unfairly excluded one group from bidding and downplayed the value of another group’s bid that would have provided more money to creditors. Jernigan said there were too many irregularities in the auction for her to approve it and ordered it be redone under the watch of the U.S. Trustee’s Office.
“I am aware that there is huge concern about Mr. Landau, and he is not here,” Jernigan said last week. “There is no way I can approve these releases without him on the witness stand and me being convinced of his good faith.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who along with two Senate colleagues filed an amicus brief questioning the fairness of the auction, said in a media statement: “A private equity company tried to abuse the bankruptcy system to slither out of paying what they owe to neglected seniors in its nursing homes. This is a textbook case of why we need to get private equity out of health care altogether, and this decision is a good step forward in the fight to deliver relief for the victims of Genesis.”
In the Dec. 17 hearing, representatives of the company controlled by Landau and Gefner said they would bid again for the remains of Genesis without the promise of liability releases. The auction is expected to occur in January. Simon, the lawyer for Genesis, said at the hearing that the judge’s ruling “has humbled us.”
Lawyers for former and current Genesis residents said they hope to sue Landau and other parties that controlled the company and led it into bankruptcy. John Anthony, a Tampa attorney who represents 341 claimants, said, “The victims believe that Mr. Landau richly deserves his day in court, so he can explain to a jury of his peers how he has apparently gotten so rich running all these supposedly insolvent facilities into the ground.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
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Florida hospitals in Hurricane Milton’s path prepare for worst
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Hospitals and other healthcare facilities on Florida’s Gulf Coast — still reeling from Hurricane Helene — are now revving up for Hurricane Milton.
The system, which is shaping up to be one of the most powerful to hit the region in years, is projected to make landfall a bit south of the Tampa area late Wednesday. Long-term care facilities in counties where mandatory evacuations have been issued are taking their patients elsewhere, while hospitals are largely on guard, preparing to stay open through the storm.
According to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ website, 10 hospitals have reported evacuations as of Tuesday afternoon. Three hundred healthcare facilities have evacuated as of this morning, the most many of the staff working there could remember, said Florida Agency for Health Care Administration deputy secretary Kim Smoak. That count included 63 nursing homes and 169 assisted living facilities.
Steve McCoy, chief of the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Oversight, said it is the state’s “largest evacuation ever.”
Health officials are using almost 600 vehicles to take patients out of the storm’s path, tracking them with blue wristbands that show where they were evacuated from and where they are being sent. They plan to keep getting patients out through the night, until winds reach sustained speeds of 40 mph and driving conditions become unsafe.
“I’ve lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life and in Sarasota for 20 years. I’ve never seen anything like this,” said David Verinder, CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. “Our anxieties are high, but we’re as prepared as we know how to be.”
Tampa General Hospital has stocked up on more than five days of supplies, including food, linens and 5,000 gallons of water, in addition to an on-site well. In the event of a power disruption, the hospital also has an energy plant with generators and boilers located 33 feet above sea level.
Tampa General deployed an “aquafence” to successfully prevent storm-surge flooding during Hurricane Helene two weeks ago. The barrier will be up again when Milton makes landfall and can withstand a storm surge of 15 feet. The U.S. National Hurricane Center estimates Milton’s surges will be 10 to 15 feet high at their peak.
No one will be working on the first floor of Tampa General Hospital for the foreseeable future — just in case.
“While AquaFence has proven effective in the past, it is just the first line of defense and one of many mitigation efforts we’ve implemented this week to safely continue care for our patients,” said Jennifer Crabtree, chief of staff at Tampa General.
The Tampa health system has shuttered many urgent care and imaging locations, but its four hospital campuses are prepared to remain open through the storm.
HCA Florida Healthcare, one of the state’s largest healthcare networks, has evacuated patients from five hospitals to sister facilities. The closed HCA Florida hospitals are Pasadena Hospital in St. Petersburg, Largo West Hospital in Largo, Florida Englewood Hospital in Englewood, West Tampa Hospital in Tampa and Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte, where strong winds and flooding caused major damage in 2022 during Hurricane Ian.
AdventHealth North Pinellas evacuated its 40 patients Tuesday afternoon, transferring them to nearby hospitals in their health system. The hospital’s emergency department remains open. Randy Haffner, CEO and president of AdventHealth Florida, said in an emailed statement that the system is “as prepared as we can be with water, generators, sandbags, satellite phones and the best caregivers there are.”
Hospitals are shuttering nearby, but Sarasota Memorial Health Care System also plans to stay open through the storm and shelter in place, Verinder said. Still, “we are concerned about the many unknowns,” he said.
Verinder estimates the system, stocked with enough food, water, linens and medications for at least seven days and 200,000 gallons of fuel, will be expected to shelter and support more than 4,000 people during the hurricane, though they are already close to capacity.
More than 2,500 staff members are gearing up for multiple nights in the hospital starting Tuesday, so Sarasota Memorial is providing childcare and pet shelters at both of its campuses.
“We are not a designated medical shelter, but we are working with the county to care for medically dependent persons assigned to the hospital because of the acuity of their needs … and patients evacuated from other hospitals in the region,” he said.
Dr. Matt Shannon, director of community emergency medicine at the University of Florida Health, said the state’s flagship is prepared to take patients.
“The emergency department… we never close,” he said. “We have five emergency departments, all of which are open and functioning. This is not our first rodeo — we’ve been through this many times before.”
Repeated rough hurricane seasons have hardened Florida facilities and prepared them for Milton, said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. Still, the sheer power of Hurricane Milton and the back-to-back nature of storms will affect “a wide swath of the state and the hospitals.”
“It’s increasing the vulnerabilities in the area, from flooding to clogged drains to debris that hasn’t been removed that may exacerbate the situation that is already forecasted to be catastrophic,” Mayhew said. “Area hospitals routinely prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
In a briefing Tuesday, state officials and long-term care industry representatives urged nursing homes and assisted living facilities to prepare for long power outages, damage to sewer systems and being unable to access electronic health records.
“We want to remind you that all emergencies are local,” said Emmett Reed, CEO of the Florida Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes and assisted living providers in the state. “You need to start with your local emergency office to report any questions you might have.”
Florida’s west coast, which includes Pinellas, Manatee and Hillsborough counties, has the highest concentration of nursing centers in the state, Florida Health Care Association spokesperson Kristen Knapp said.
“Based on what has been reported, at a minimum, you’re talking about 5,000-6,000 nursing home residents that have evacuated,” Knapp said in an email.
In counties under state of emergency orders, nursing homes and assisted living facilities are required to have enough emergency generator fuel to power life-saving equipment and keep indoor temperatures at a safe level for 96 hours.
Deborah Franklin, a member of the Florida Health Care Association’s emergency response team, said centers should be printing resident documents, including medications, dietary restrictions and more, even if they are not in the worst of the hurricane’s path. She also urged staff to consider the mental health of their residents, some of whom are moving for the second time in just a few weeks.
“You must address — after the storm or even during the storm — trauma-informed care for these residents,” Franklin said. “They could be worried about their families. They could be worried about if they’re going to have a home to go back to.”
Sixty-seven-year-old Lillie Whiting said she doesn’t plan on evacuating the assisted living facility where she lives a few blocks from the bay in Clearwater. But she may have to pack up anyway if staff at Magnolia Manor determine that residents need to be relocated to another facility across town.
“We might have to evacuate, but they doubt it, saying we’ll see what goes on,” Whiting said. “If we do, they got another place we can go.”
The retired housekeeper took advantage of the clear weather Tuesday afternoon to get some fresh air, supported by the walker she uses to get around. She is getting more nervous as Hurricane Milton barrels towards the Gulf Coast, but she said she feels confident the facility will take care of her and the other residents.
“Kinda scared,” she said. “But I be praying all the time.”
Shannon from UF Health said most people with lung issues who rely on oxygen at home have backup oxygen bottles prepared, and some new devices even have backup batteries.
But he is concerned about elderly people and those who live in rural areas.
“We see them in the emergency room when backups fail or they don’t have access to a generator,” Shannon said.
Dialysis facilities across the state are trying to provide even shortened treatments to as many patients as possible before closing for the storm.
“Helene, they were able to get back up and running pretty quickly. But with the wind, this could be a different kind of event,” said Helen Rose of Health Services Advisory Group, which is helping coordinate disaster response for kidney patients. The network has established a phone helpline and will keep an updated list of open facilities during and after the storm.
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Minnesota nursing home workers calling for solutions to staffing issues
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EAGAN, Minn. — Nursing home workers in Minnesota are calling for solutions to staffing issues.
On Friday, union members with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa gathered in front of the headquarters of Monarch Nursing Homes in Eagan.
Workers there said they’re feeling overworked and understaffed.
“The short staff, a lot of discrimination, we’ve been back and forth with Monarch for a long, long time,” said Rasha Ahmadsharif, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa. “They don’t understand what their workers, their own workers are suffering, that they actually need union representation to always speak to their leaders and their human resources.”
Monarch CEO Marc Halpert says they’ve been asking lawmakers for additional funding and better wages, and even helped put forth legislation.
“Unfortunately, these previous efforts have been opposed by organized labor,” Halpert said. “We welcome SEIU to this cause and look forward to their help in securing these funds during this legislative session.”
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WCCO Staff
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As investors pour in, for-profit nursing homes leave some seniors in need
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Based on her medical condition, Grace Song had been labeled a fall risk by the Southern California nursing home where the 92-year-old spent a month earlier this year. So it was a surprise to her family when they learned she was left alone in the bathroom, fell, and was rushed to the emergency room.
“This is where you feel, how do I get to be so helpless?” Song told her daughter-in-law Lisa Ling, who is a CBS News contributor. Ling began recording her mother-in-law on her iPhone following the incident and Song’s return to the nursing home, a for-profit skilled nursing facility called Berkley East Healthcare Center. Ling’s personal experience informed a parallel effort by CBS News to understand the changing nature of nursing home ownership.
Courtesy of Lisa Ling
Berkley East is one of the more than 70% of the roughly 15,000 U.S. nursing homes now run by companies seeking to make a profit in a field beset by challenges. A CBS News investigation found Song’s experience was consistent with allegations that the facility had faced a pattern of neglect. And it matched an industry-wide trend toward increasingly complex ownership arrangements that consumer advocates say are endangering fragile patients.
“The vast majority of quality problems in the U.S. are centered in for-profit nursing homes,” said Harvard professor David Grabowski, who told CBS News the ownership structures of for-profits have become more complicated, as investment from private equity firms and real estate companies have poured in.
Most U.S. nursing homes rely on taxpayer money from Medicare and Medicaid — money Grabowski said is becoming more difficult to track.
“We’re kind of flying blind with respect to these nursing homes,” he said. “We really don’t know how they’re using public dollars and whether they’re going into direct resident care.”
There is mounting evidence patients are paying the price. A study released by the federal government in November shows these for-profit facilities tend to have lower quality ratings, fewer registered nurses, and more safety violations.
The study was released in tandem last November with a new regulation by the Biden administration requiring facilities to disclose more information about their management. That rule, along with new minimum staffing requirements scheduled to take effect in June, are central to the administration’s efforts to hold the industry accountable in the wake of the pandemic, where more than 200,000 nursing home residents and staff died due to COVID.
In a statement to CBS News, the American Healthcare Association, a nursing home industry lobbying group, called the federal staffing mandate “unrealistic.” It said while it supports financial transparency and accountability, those matters are “a distraction” from larger issues it says most nursing homes are facing, including chronic government underfunding and worker shortages.
In an August 2023 report, the group said 24% of nursing facilities were forced to close a wing, unit, or floor due to labor shortages.
“The reality is that it is really challenging to run a nursing home, which is why we’ve seen thousands of closures, changes in ownership, and bankruptcies in recent years,” the group wrote in its statement. “It’s because as a country, we’ve failed to adequately support how we finance long term care.”
In 2019, after carving off the facility’s real estate holdings, the operations at Berkley East were taken over by a for-profit company called Aspen Skilled Healthcare, a mid-sized chain of more than two dozen nursing homes. Previously, the facility had been family-run and was operating at a loss.
When Song arrived at Berkley East in January, she described a facility that appeared short staffed. She said she struggled to get their attention, and medication she was told to take promptly at 8 a.m. routinely came hours late.
“So I was pushing the [buzzer], to find out what’s going on,” said Song, claiming some staff members told her she was being difficult. “When you go through all this stress, I’m just so deadly tired,” she said.
Another patient, who shared a room with Song, told Ling she had soiled herself and the staffer who was supposed to change her had gone to lunch.
Staff and family members raise concerns
While Berkley East continued to operate at a loss, Aspen’s facilities overall reported profits of more than $27 million, according to federal cost reports the company filed in 2022, the most recent year data is available.
Aspen Skilled Health Care declined to comment for this report.
Five current and former Berkley East employees told CBS News they believe patient care had suffered after Aspen took over. One nurse who worked at Berkley East for more than a decade alleged she was exposed to examples of what she called negligence “on a daily basis,” including patients not receiving their medication on time.
“Labs weren’t being reported in a timely manner,” said the nurse, who asked to remain anonymous to protect future job prospects. “When we tried to call upper management, they wouldn’t even pick up the phone or call us back. They would just leave us short on the floor.”
She also alleges that during the pandemic, Aspen took steps to conceal staff shortages from the state health department by listing names of nurses who appeared not to be working there on internal staff reports.
“These nurses were nowhere to be found in the system, weren’t even licensed, weren’t even certified,” she said.
Asked to respond to questions about these claims, a spokesperson for the company declined to comment.
One woman interviewed by CBS News shared pictures of wounds she said her disabled husband received after he was left unattended and fell out of a wheelchair, striking his head. Last August, federal inspectors placed Berkley East under immediate jeopardy status, after finding that staff failed to administer “lifesaving medication” to a patient with low blood sugar levels, who then had to be hospitalized.
By April, the facility had tallied so many “serious quality issues” that federal regulators say it’s a candidate for its Special Focus Facility program aimed at nursing homes that need special oversight “in order to protect and improve residents’ health and safety.”
Since Aspen took over, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services has dropped the facility from a four-star overall rating to one star.
CBS News has learned the company has since replaced its managers at Berkley East, and some employees say they have seen some improvement. In 2022 data, the facility reported staffing levels that exceed state and federal requirements, and according to a post online, last week hosted a job fair for nurses.
“What if it was your loved one?”
One of Aspen’s more profitable facilities is Oakland Heights, where Ruby Frazier spent a month after a fall at home sent her to the hospital in November 2022. Frazier, who was 85 at the time, told family she struggled to get the attention of staff and her condition deteriorated quickly, according to her granddaughter, Maisha Morris, and daughter Yolanda Morris.
“My mom would push the button for help and they wouldn’t acknowledge her,” Yolanda Morris told Ling. “It’s like they didn’t even give a doggone.”
Family photo
Frazier, who was bed bound, developed what her medical records later concluded were bedsores. Her family says they insisted the facility call an ambulance when, on one visit, she began gasping for air. When Frazier arrived at the hospital, medical records show emergency room doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia and severe sepsis. She died six months later.
The Morrises have sued Aspen, alleging the company “knowingly and deliberately understaffed and underfunded Oakland Heights … to maximize profits at the expense of patient care.” In a court filing, the company has denied all of their allegations.
Maisha Morris said if she were able to address the management at Aspen, she would ask them to put themselves in her shoes: “What if it was your loved one who wasn’t being treated correctly, and they’re calling and calling, and no one is responding?”
Financial maneuvers
Just how much money nursing homes re-invest in patient care can be hard to calculate. Federal cost reports show Aspen facilities used common accounting maneuvers in the industry called related party payments to move more than $25 million to subsidiaries controlled by Aspen. The company’s financial records note the payments mostly cover administrative and general costs
In March, health care researchers from UCLA and Lehigh University found some nursing homes were extracting substantial profits by overcharging related parties for management fees and rent in particular.
“Nursing home owners are overcharging their own facilities for services,” said Sam Brooks, a consumer advocate with the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. “They can then turn around and say, ‘We don’t have enough money to pay for staff,’ when it’s really hidden in these related parties.”
Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against the owners, operators and landlords of four for-profit nursing homes, alleging they enriched themselves using “an elaborate network of related companies,” diverting more than $83 million in Medicaid and Medicare funds away from resident care.
The American Health Association, the industry lobbying group, told CBS News related party payments are among “common business practices to help streamline services.”
“Neither ownership nor the line items on a financial statement prove whether a nursing home is committed to its residents,” the group wrote in a statement. “To truly transform long term care, we must focus on supportive solutions that invest in our seniors and caregivers.”
Grabowski said the cost reports that nursing home facilities produce highlight the limits of the federal push for transparency, because they don’t ultimately explain where taxpayer money is flowing.
“Does Aspen have particular investors? There’s no ability to peel that back with the federal data,” he said. “Basically we need to know for every nursing home in the country, how they’re spending public dollars.”
A doctor’s view of a for-profit takeover
In 2016, Aspen took over a 300-bed nonprofit facility in Los Angeles’s Boyle Heights neighborhood after the building was purchased by real estate investors, according to a source familiar with the arrangement.
For decades, the nursing home was a pillar of the Japanese American community, but Dr. Takeshi Matsumoto said that emotional connection was lost when Aspen took over the facility, which was renamed Kei-Ai Los Angeles Healthcare Center.
According to Matsumoto, a private physician who still sees some of his patients at Kei-Ai, while there wasn’t a visible drop in staff when the for-profit company took over, there was a drop in quality.
“For the most part, I would say the care became suboptimal,” he said. “Just taking care of some basic needs, like for example, taking care of resident’s dentures. I’ve had numerous families complain that their parents’ dentures were still caked with old food.”
When the pandemic hit California, the facility became one of the deadliest in the state, after Matsumoto said Aspen opted into a program to receive state money in exchange for taking on COVID-infected patients.
He said existing Kei-Ai residents, some of them his longtime patients, weren’t informed of the company’s decision nor given the opportunity to move out of the facility and later died from the virus. According to federal data, there were more than 200 COVID deaths in the facility in 2021. (Kei-Ai wrote on its website that while the cumulative data may appear high, when the facility’s size is considered, its COVID-19 statistics are in line with state averages.)
Matsumoto said he believes the company’s apparent lack of communication with existing residents resulted in unnecessary deaths, and reflects how Aspen does business.
“They didn’t really care about the fundamental rights of individuals to be informed if they’re going to be placed in harm’s way,” he said.
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Few prepared to cover long-term care costs
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Editor’s note: The share of the U.S. population older than 65 keeps rising – and will for decades to come. Since nearly half of Americans over 65 will pay for some version of long-term health care, CNHI News and The Associated Press examined the state of long-term care in the series High Cost of Long-Term Care, which began Friday and continues this week.
While many Americans will need long-term care as they get older, few are prepared to pay for it.
Medicare, which provides Americans over the age 65 with health insurance, doesn’t cover most long-term care services. And Medicaid — the primary safety net for long-term care coverage — only covers those who are indigent.
Federal estimates suggest 70% of people ages 65 and older will need long-term care before they die, but only 3% to 4% of Americans age 50 and older are paying for long-term care policies, according to insurance industry figures.
The high cost of premiums for those private long-term care policies puts it out of reach for most people.
Even some who have this kind of insurance find it doesn’t provide enough to cover the costs of home health aides, assisted-living facilities or nursing homes.
“People think that long-term care insurance is for everyone — but it is not,” said Jessie Slone, executive director of the American Association for Long-term Care Insurance, an advocacy group. “It’s for a very small subset of individuals who plan, and have some retirement assets and income they can use to pay for it.”
To qualify, applicants need to pass a health review. Slone said insurance companies have underwriting policies with “page after page” of conditions that will disqualify people from getting that coverage.”If you live a long life, the chances of you needing care are significant. So then the issue becomes who’s going to provide for that care, and who’s going to pay for it. For some, long-term care insurance is an option.”
Prices vary, based on the age when people apply, how good their health is at the time, and how much coverage they want. “You have to start looking at this generally in your 50s or 60s,” Slone said. “Because, as you get older, you’re going to have conditions which insurers are going to look at, determine that you’re very likely to need long-term care and not give you a policy.”
That coverage, if you can get it, doesn’t come cheap: In 2023, the annual average cost for a policy for a couple both age 55, taking out a $165,000 initial pool growing at 3% compounded annually — ranged from a low of $5,018 to $14,695 a year, according to the association.
But, compared to auto insurance — which most people may never use — long-term care insurance is a good investment for those who can afford it, Slone said. “Car insurance is the most expensive insurance you ever pay because the chances of you getting into a car accident are somewhat remote. But the chances of someone needing long-term care if they make it to 90 are pretty significant.”
Lori Smetanka, executive director of the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, a national nonprofit advocacy group, views it differently. She said the private long-term care insurance system has become a “bust” amid rising premiums and difficulties accessing benefits.
Consider the fact that the number of companies offering long-term care insurance is declining, while payouts are steadily increasing as the baby boomer generation ages.”Most people have found it very expensive,” Smetanka said. “But, at the same time, people are finding that it wasn’t covering what they needed.”
Last year, insurers paid a record of more than $14 billion to cover an estimated 353,000 long-term care claims, according to industry figures. That’s compared to about $11.6 billion just three years ago.
Currently, there are about 7.5 million people in the U.S. age 65 and older with private long-term care insurance, according to industry data.
With that incentive, some states, including Washington and California, are looking at creating long-term care social insurance pools funded by payroll taxes and other sources of funding. The effort also is being spurred, in part, by the rising costs borne by states for Medicaid long-term care coverage, which they share with the federal government.
“More and more states are coming to the conclusion that this is an under-funded system,” said Marc Cohen, a researcher and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. “There are simply not enough dollars going into the system – given the needs and the demands of the growing elderly population.”
So far, Washington is the only state to try to address the issue. A law approved by the state Legislature in 2019 created a long-term care benefit program, which provides residents with up to $36,500 to pay for costs such as caregiving, wheelchair ramps, meal deliveries and nursing home fees.
The Cares Funds is covered by a payroll tax that deducts 0.58% out of paychecks but guarantees a $36,500 lifetime benefit for those who have paid into the fund for 10 years.
Several other states are studying the issue. In California, a task force is looking at how to design a long-term care program, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Massachusetts, Illinois and Michigan also are weighing the costs versus benefits of creating a state long-term care benefits program.
But the issue of imposing new taxes to pay for long-term care insurance is controversial — and politically unpopular — on both a state and federal level.
Washington’s long-term care insurance law is facing a repeal effort from a group backed by hedge fund executive Brian Heywood that argues the system should be voluntary. Voters in November will decide whether to allow people to opt out, which supporters say would essentially gut the program.
“There are a lot of states that are looking to see what happens in Washington,” Cohen said. “If this billionaire who is funding this repeal effort wins, it will be a real blow.”
Cohen said efforts on a federal level to create a publicly funded insurance pool haven’t gained much traction. A long-term care program created by Congress through the CLASS Plan, which was tied to the Affordable Care Act, was voluntary. That law was repealed in early 2013.
“It never got off the ground before it was repealed,” he said. “With the dysfunction in Congress, we’re likely to see more action on a state level than the federal.”
Recent polls suggest there may be some public support for the move. A survey by the National Council on Aging found more than 90% of the 1,000 female respondents across party lines support the idea of creating a government program to pay for the cost of long-term care.
“The level of support was significant, and very bipartisan,” said Howard Bedlin, a long-term care expert with the council. “People keep talking about how Congress can’t find bipartisan support. Well, the voters clearly support it.
“The politicians just aren’t giving these issues the attention they deserve.”
Christian M. Wade is a reporter for North of Boston Media Group.
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By Christian M. Wade | CNHI News
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Family’s search for missing Queens woman concludes with discovery she died at nursing home
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FLUSHING, Queens (WABC) — Smack dab in the middle of downtown Flushing, Queens is a shopping plaza where shoppers will find a jeweler and herbs.
Tucked away in the back is Judy Tailor, where 68-year-old Xiuping Shen, a well-known seamstress, famously worked before she vanished sometime in November.
“She’s famous for her job,” said Harriette Lo of Tianjin Commerce Association. “People say a year, 365 days, she’s been working 364 days.”
Shen’s family is all in China, and after not being able to reach her for two months they contacted Lo, who got the police involved.
In mid-January, they found her at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital.
“I talked to her doctor,” said Lo. “The doctor told me about her situation there. And the doctor said she’ll be ok. Maybe next week she will discharge.”
Shen had been sick for a while with kidney failure.
She was discharged a week later, but no one was able to find her.
“They cannot tell us anything because we are not the emergency contact person,” said Lo.
Harriette enlisted the help of State Assembly Ron Kim, who was able to convince the hospital that the family authorized him to speak on their behalf.
The hospital told him Shen had been discharged to a nursing home.
However, when they got to the facility, they discovered she had passed away in their care on Jan. 29.
“Harriette went there to try to get more information,” Kim said. “They wouldn’t communicate with Harriette.”
Shen’s cause of death was kidney failure.
Given the news, the family is now working on coming to the US to close the loop on these frantic couple of months with a proper burial.
“Just when we called them it was at that time period where they were about to dispose the remains at a public cemetery,” said Kim. “We were able to intervene and through Harriette and her people remove the remains to a local funeral home as our office is expediting their visas from abroad to come here to have a proper funeral and then take the remains back to China.”
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Fire kills 6 at Italian retirement home in Milan
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Milan — A fire at a retirement home in the early hours of Friday in Milan killed six people, firefighters said, with “numerous” residents hospitalized.
“Six people killed, numerous suffering from smoke inhalation hospitalized. Dozens of people saved by firefighters who immediately evacuated the building,” the fire brigade said on Twitter.
GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty
An AFP photographer saw the bodies of two of the victims being removed from the three-storey building, which reportedly houses 210 people in the south of the Italian city.
The cause of the blaze was not yet known, the fire brigade said.
Five of the victims were women aged between 69 and 87 years old, while the sixth was a 73-year-old man, AGI news agency said.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said the fire appeared to have started in one room housing two female residents, both of whom were killed, according to ANSA news agency.
While the fire did not spread beyond that room, the smoke killed four other residents and left a further two fighting for their lives, he said.
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Tougher Federal Penalties to Come for Failing Nursing Homes
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By Cara Murez
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) – About 88 nursing homes in the United States are on a watch list for worrisome care that puts residents in danger, but now they will face tougher penalties for any future violation.
Those tougher penalties could include the loss of federal funding if they receive more than one dangerous violation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Friday.
The new penalties will apply to fewer than 0.5% of U.S. nursing homes that are already designated as a “special focus facility” because of a previous violation.
“Let us be clear: We are cracking down on enforcement of our nation’s poorest-performing nursing homes,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement announcing the tougher penalties.
The existing watchlist already requires the U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to do more monitoring at these facilities.
Nursing homes with more than one violation will also be monitored for at least three years. Staffing levels will be among considerations for adding a facility to the watch list.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may implement staffing ratio requirements; it is studying that issue now.
President Joe Biden earlier this year promised to overhaul the nation’s nursing home system.
Residents were hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which killed more than 200,000 residents and staffers. About a million people live in these homes, some of which are plagued by subpar care and staffing shortages, the Associated Press reported.
The Biden administration also plans to award $80 million in grants to health care organizations, trade groups and labor unions to train and hire nursing staff. Grant applications are due by Jan. 6, the AP reported.
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St. Catherine’s Village to Host Free Seminar on Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia on March 29
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Dr. Thomas Mosley will share the latest advances in Alzheimer’s and dementia research occurring at UMMC’s MIND Center during a free seminar at St. Catherine’s Village in Madison, Mississippi on March 29 at 2:30 p.m.
Press Release
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updated: Mar 12, 2018
MADISON, Miss., March 12, 2018 (Newswire.com)
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At 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 29, St. Catherine’s Village will welcome Dr. Thomas Mosley to its Commons Activity Room for an hour-long educational seminar. While the program is free and open to the public, seating is limited so reservations are required.Dr. Mosley, professor and neurological expert will share the latest advances in Alzheimer’s and dementia research happening now at the University Of Mississippi Medical Center’s (UMMC) MIND Center. Attendees also will have the opportunity to take a virtual look at the new Gertrude C. Ford MIND Research Center in UMMC’s state-of-the-art Translational Research Center.
We are thrilled to have someone of Dr. Mosley’s expertise and standing speak to our residents, their families and anyone who is concerned about the cognitive health of their loved ones.
Mary Margaret Judy, Executive Director at St. Catherine’s Village
The MIND—Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia—Center is one of the country’s leading research and clinical care services working to crack the code of Alzheimer’s disease. By combining pioneering research, population-based studies and more than 30 years of data with brain imaging and genetic technologies, the clinical team is making discoveries about Alzheimer’s and its risk factors. The disease affects 5 million Americans and more than 40 million people worldwide.
The mission of the Gertrude C. Ford MIND Research Center is to uncover the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s and related dementias and to develop new treatments. Since the center opened, researchers have not only advanced the understanding of how the brain ages but also identified multiple factors that predict the development of dementia. Uncovering causes and risk factors can lead to improved management and possibly even prevention of cognitive decline with age.
Dr. Mosley is the MIND Center director. A professor of medicine-geriatrics, he has an extensive background in clinical neuropsychology, behavioral neurology and population-based studies in neuroepidemiology. His research efforts have been largely devoted to uncovering how and why the brain changes with age and his contributions have been recognized with several awards. His work has led to discoveries about the brain that show that cognitive decline begins much earlier than previously thought—an insight that could translate into earlier detection and treatment. His latest work promises to push the frontiers of science and medicine by bringing together state-of-the-art brain imaging and powerful new genetic technologies.
“We are thrilled to have someone of Dr. Mosley’s expertise and standing speak to our residents, their families and anyone who is concerned about the cognitive health of their loved ones,” said Mary Margaret Judy, executive director at St. Catherine’s Village. The continuing care retirement community (CCRC) offers two facilities for memory care: Campbell Cove and the Hughes Center. Both are licensed by the State of Mississippi as “Alzheimer’s Assisted Living” facilities and together, they offer a warm, home-like environment for individuals facing memory loss.
The architecture at Campbell Cove and the Hughes Center follow design principles to minimize obstacles so that residents can maintain their independence as long as possible. For example, buildings feature wayfinding cues and circulation paths to guide people from one place to another. They also have small yet distinctive neighborhoods that allow for individual privacy while supporting family-size gatherings.
Campbell Cove accommodates 36 individuals in three color-coded wings, each with a common living room and dining area along with 12 furnished private bedrooms. In the center is a large multipurpose area, arts and crafts room, recreation center, and kitchen. A secure walking garden and landscaped patios give residents the opportunity to spend time outdoors in a familiar and protected setting.
The Hughes Center was created for individuals with advanced memory challenges and offers a calming ambiance for small-group sensory-stimulating activities. Each of the two distinct neighborhoods has 12 furnished private bedrooms and a common living room, dining room, kitchen, and screened-in porch and covered patio.
Beyond the architecture, programming at the two facilities is person-centered with scheduled—but also unplanned—activities to enhance each resident’s quality of life. The staff follows a social model of care to support each person’s capabilities and affirm his or her dignity.
St. Catherine’s Village offers skilled nursing dedicated to memory care, as well. A total of 24 private bedrooms with in-room showers are available for this living option, which combines person-centered memory care with skilled nursing services.
Unparalleled services and facilities are the hallmark of St. Catherine’s Village, as is companionship, a caring staff, access to on-site resident-centered nursing care, and a mission-focused environment. The ministry encourages residents at all levels to enjoy the fullness of life, health, and faith.
It is the first retirement community in Mississippi to earn accreditation by CARF-CCAC. This “commitment to excellence” seal signifies that the campus exceeds the standards established by the nation’s only accrediting body for CCRCs.
St. Catherine’s Village is a service of St. Dominic Health Services, Inc. and is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, who have owned and operated St. Dominic Hospital since 1946.
Located on 160 acres in Madison, St. Catherine’s Village provides the right care at the right time through independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing as well as memory care.
The free seminar on Alzheimer’s disease and dementia is being held at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 29 in the Commons Activity Room at St. Catherine’s Village, 200 Dominican Drive in Madison.
The public is invited, but seating is limited so reservations are required. To ensure a seat, call (601) 856-0123, email village@stdom.com or log onto www.StCatherinesVillage.com.
Source: St. Catherine’s Village
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Madison Chamber of Commerce Names St. Catherine’s Village Large Business of the Year
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Madison the City Chamber of Commerce—which is comprised of businesses, professionals and volunteers whose mission is to advance the city’s economic vitality and quality of life—presented the 2017 Large Business of the Year Award to St. Catherine’s Village.
Press Release
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updated: Jan 31, 2018
Madison, Mississippi, January 31, 2018 (Newswire.com)
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In January, Madison the City Chamber of Commerce named St. Catherine’s Village the city’s Large Business of the Year for 2017.Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler presented the award to Mary Margaret Judy, executive director; Felichia Fields, assistant executive director; and Scott Kersh, chief financial officer at St. Catherine’s Village. The continuing care retirement community (CCRC) offers unparalleled facilities, beautiful outdoor spaces, a thoughtful staff, resident-centered care, and a mission-focused environment.
“St. Catherine’s Village truly embodies what Madison has achieved as a certified retirement community,”
Mary Margaret Judy, Executive Director at St. Catherine’s Village
“St. Catherine’s Village truly embodies what Madison has achieved as a certified retirement community,” said Mary Margaret Judy. “We are honored that the chamber appreciates the value we bring to the city.”
To qualify as a certified retirement city, Madison passed a three-month intensive screening process conducted by Hometown Mississippi Retirement, the state’s official retiree attraction program. The city was evaluated on several criteria important to retirees: cost of living, tax rate, low crime, quality medical care, recreation, educational and cultural opportunities, and most importantly—a warm, welcoming atmosphere.
Madison, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2017, also has been awarded the seal of approval by the American Association of Retirement Communities and is nationally ranked as one of the best retirement locations in the country. Both the chamber of commerce and the city actively promote Madison as a retirement haven.
St. Catherine’s Village is no stranger to awards, itself. In 2017, it was named Best Retirement Community and Best Assisted Living Facility by the Clarion Ledger—recognition it received in 2016 and 2015, as well. In addition, Keep Mississippi Beautiful acknowledged the St. Catherine’s Village “Green Team” for its exemplary efforts in keeping Mississippi beautiful two years in a row.
Furthermore, the all-inclusive life care community was the first in the state to earn accreditation by CARF-CCAC. This “commitment to excellence” seal signifies that the campus exceeds the standards established by the only international accrediting body for CCRCs. Furthermore, Campbell Cove and the Hughes Center are both licensed by the State of Mississippi as “Alzheimer’s Assisted Living” facilities.
All adults 62 and older are welcome at St. Catherine’s Village, where they are encouraged to enjoy fullness of life, health and faith. Housing options include independent living in apartments and garden homes, assisted living in Marian Hall, memory care in Campbell Cove and Hughes Center, and skilled nursing in Siena Center. St. Catherine’s Village now offers skilled nursing dedicated to memory care, as well.
In each lifestyle stage, residents pay a monthly fee that covers utilities, services and amenities that make living comfortable, carefree and secure. In addition to companionship, St. Catherine’s Village offers enriching activities with an activity director who coordinates a variety of clubs, groups and events to keep residents engaged, energetic and excited. The property boasts 160 acres of wooded grounds along with 24-hour on-duty security.
St. Catherine’s Village is a service of St. Dominic Health Services, Inc. and is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, who have owned and operated St. Dominic Hospital since 1946.
With independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, and memory care, St. Catherine’s Village provides the right care at the right time for those in their retirement years. For more information, call (601) 856-0123 or log onto www.StCatherinesVillage.com.
Source: Stevens & Tate Marketing for St. Catherine’s Village
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St. Catherine’s Village Announces Fall Specials for New Residents
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For a limited time only — St. Catherine’s Village is offering fall specials on several of its living options including memory care, skilled nursing, and independent studio apartments.
Press Release
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updated: Oct 3, 2017
MADISON, Miss., October 3, 2017 (Newswire.com)
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St. Catherine’s Village is celebrating the autumn season by offering new residents limited-time savings on several living options.Those who move into either the Hughes Center or Campbell Cove, which offers a home-like environment for individuals facing memory loss due to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, can save $1,000 per month for their first three months at St. Catherine’s Village. A limited number of rooms are available at monthly rates for individuals who are not enrolled in the community’s all-inclusive Life Care program.
In the spirit of giving, we have reduced the short-term cost to move into St. Catherine’s Village and receive comfort, care and compassion.
Mary Margaret Judy, Executive Director at St. Catherine’s Village
For people who need 24-hour care, the $3,000 fall special also is available at Siena Center. The skilled nursing accommodations include private and semi-private rooms. Siena Center was twice voted the best nursing home in Mississippi by readers of the Clarion-Ledger.
St. Catherine’s Village now offers skilled nursing dedicated to memory care, as well. A total of 24 private bedrooms with in-room showers are available for this new living option, which combines person-centered memory care with skilled nursing services.
To qualify for the fall special at Siena Center, Hughes Center or Campbell Cove, residents must be new to St. Catherine’s Village and move in by Dec. 31, 2017. Offer does not apply to respite stays.
For a limited time, St. Catherine’s Village also is offering $300 in savings on monthly fees for three years to new residents of the Independent Living studio apartments. The cozy studio apartments with 413 square feet of living space are located in the heart of the community, near activities and on-site amenities. Each apartment comes with a fully equipped kitchen, individually controlled heating and air conditioning for year-round comfort, an emergency call system for personal safety, cable TV, utilities except telephone and Internet, regular housekeeping services, building maintenance, and 24-hour security.
In addition to its variety of living options, St. Catherine’s Village features protected and beautiful outdoor spaces on 160 acres of wooded grounds in Madison, Mississippi. The private, gated community is the first all-inclusive life care in the state to earn accreditation by CARF-CCAC. This “commitment to excellence” seal signifies that the campus exceeds the standards established by the only international accrediting body for CCRCs (Continuing Care Retirement Community).
With a caring staff, St. Catherine’s Village provides the right care at the right time for individuals in their retirement years. All residents have access to on-site person-centered care in a mission-focused environment that encourages everyone to enjoy fullness of life, health and faith.
St. Catherine’s Village is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois. The Sisters, who have owned and operated St. Dominic Health Service, Inc. since 1946, extended their healing ministry to the special needs of older adults with the creation of St. Catherine’s Village in 1988. Today, the not-for-profit, all-inclusive life care community offers adults age 62 or over a graceful lifestyle where independence and activity is a priority.
For more information on all living options at St. Catherine’s Village as well as details on the fall specials, call (601) 856-0123 or log onto www.StCatherinesVillage.com.
Source: Stevens & Tate Marketing for St. Catherine’s Village
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